EFFECTIVENESS OF PRINCIPALS IN MITIGATION OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN MIXED DAY SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN RARIEDA SUB-COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Climate change is a natural process where temperature, rainfall, wind and other elements of weather vary over decades or more. It has negative effects such as global warming and excessive rain leading to flooding that affects individuals and schools. Principals, as community change agents and being in charge of people, are expected by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to participate in national climate change mitigation efforts through mobilizing teachers, students, and parents to grow trees in their school localities. This is because grown trees create a micro-climate that favour a myriad of vital human activities which are currently threatened by climate change effects. Effects of climate change such as global warming, floods and landslides affect schools’ programs, hence becoming an administrative issue for principals. For example, on 3rd May, 2024, schools’ reopening for the second term was postponed indefinitely due to floods. The principals’ role in mitigating climate change is crucial. This can be done through tree growing, growing flowers, and proper waste management alongside other environment conservation activities. In Rarieda Sub County (SC), the effects of climate change have been observed in terms of drought, famine, high temperatures and scarcity of water, making most schools source water from far places. The Global Forest Watch (2023) revealed that in 2010, Rarieda SC had a tree cover of 3.1 %, which was reduced by 615 million hectares (Mha) by 2022, against the Siaya County average at 11.0%, both being lower than the national average at 12.3%. The problem is that Rarieda SC has the lowest tree cover in Siaya county which is also declining at the highest rate. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to examine the effectiveness of principals in mitigation of climate change in mixed-day secondary schools in Rarieda SC. The effectiveness of the principals is evidenced by the level of engagement of teachers, students and parents in tree growing that results in an increase in tree cover. The objectives of the study are to establish the level of principals’ engagement of students in tree growing for climate change mitigation in mixed day secondary schools in Rarieda SC, to determine the level of principals’ engagement of teachers in tree growing for climate change mitigation and to determine the level of principals’ engagement of parents in tree growing for climate change mitigation in mixed day secondary schools in Rarieda SC. The study is anchored on the Gallup model of employee engagement (Gill, 2009). The tenets of the model are empowerment, enablement and connection. The research design is a descriptive survey. The population of the study is 35 principals of mixed day secondary schools, 575 teachers, 4513 students and 35 parents. The study used census sampling to select the schools and principals. Oso and Onen's table was used to select the number of students to participate in the study. Saturated sampling was used to select the SCQASO. The validity of the instruments was subjected to scrutiny by experts at the School of Education. Internal consistency reliability was used to ensure the reliability of the data. Data collection was done using questionnaires and interview schedules. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics. The findings showed low principal engagement of students, teachers and parents in tree-growing activities in mixed-day secondary schools in Rarieda Sub-county, with mean scores of 1.549 for students, 1.4396 for teachers, 2.025 for principals and 1.33 for parents.